Many patients have continued to grapple with hardship amid the cash crunch that has worsened access to healthcare services in most hospitals in Lagos State.
Investigation showed that the situation had worsened as healthcare workers were stranded due to unavailability of cash for transport fare.
A nurse at a primary healthcare centre, Mrs. Adetoun Gbadegesin, said many health workers at her facility were absent from their duty post due to paucity of funds.
“Movement within Lagos is getting difficult for many people, especially now that the old naira notes are no longer acceptable as legal tender.
“I tried to source cash at four Point of Sale (PoS) centres but the operators have no cash, I had to walk halfway before joining a bus to work because of insufficient cash with me.
“Many of my colleagues who live far away cannot make it to the office and the burden of attending to these large numbers of patients falls on just a few of us,” she said.
Also, Uche Nwogwu, a trader, said he was apprehensive on how to restock his medications, as e-payment channels had failed in spite of several transaction attempts.
“I was fortunate to get N1,000 from a PoS operator which I used for transport to the hospital to take my final injection.
“I wanted to take the injection on an empty stomach as the food vendors around the axis didn’t open because they couldn’t stock up food stuff.
“The nurse refused to give me the injection on an empty stomach, she insisted that I take water and biscuits. It’s so sad that I have money but can’t access it to take care of myself,” he said.
Similarly, Dr. Tunji Akintade, a former Chairman, Association of Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria, said that the naira crisis had almost halted activities across all sectors just like COVID-19 lockdown.
Akintade said that many hospital owners had been challenged with operating with few staff, increasing overhead cost worsened by prolonged fuel scarcity and naira crisis that made many patients unable to pay their healthcare bills.
He noted that the disruptions, hardship, mental and physical pain experienced by the citizens showed that Nigeria wasn’t fully prepared for an integrated cashless system.
Akintade appealed to the government to be humane in implementing the policy, saying no policy should bring suffering, irrespective of how well intentioned.